After Improper Times to Use the Morgan Door
by ac-the-brain-supreme
Summary: Morgan convinces Chuck to go to a club, where the revenge-seeking Shelby kidnaps him. Now Casey, Sarah, and Morgan must rescue Chuck, and fast! ::Chasey::
1. Chapter 1

_Hi faithful readers! This is the final story to the "Improper Times" trilogy! I hope all those who had read and enjoyed the first two enjoy this one as well. It took a long time to get this thing finished, and I'm actually quite proud of what I've written. It'd make me feel special to know that you all think it's good as well!_

**ac-the-brain-supreme does not own Chuck. If she did, Chuck and Casey would've made out already.**

* * *

Morgan's eyes nearly bugged out of his head when the six-foot-plus, long-blond-haired, model-material strutted herself into the Buy More. Within three seconds, Morgan was at the Nerd Heard, directing the face of Chuck Bartowski towards the beautiful woman. "Would ya look at her?"

"Uh...okay..." Chuck pulled himself out of Morgan's grasp and looked at the blond. "Yeah...she's pretty."

"Just pretty?" Morgan asked. "Man, what's wrong with you?"

Chuck looked at him.

Morgan looked back. After a pathetically long minute, the little light-bulb went off. "Oh...yeah..." Morgan looked back at the woman, who was walking up to the Nerd Heard station. He smiled. "Well, just because you can't enjoy pretty girls, doesn't mean I can't."

"You can't what?" the blond subject matter asked. Morgan and Chuck looked at the woman. They both broke out into smiles. The woman looked up at Chuck. "Is my cell phone ready?"

Chuck nodded. "Just a moment." He bent down, under the counter.

"Oh!" the woman exclaimed. "Hello."

Chuck looked up. He turned around, looking in the direction the woman was looking. Casey was standing, there, hands crossed over his chest and the good ole "I can totally kill you" expression on his face. Chuck looked back at the woman. She either didn't notice the expression or she was far from intimidated by it. Actually, she seemed to enjoy it, in some dark and sadistic way. Chuck noticed that Morgan was enjoying looking at her, but not actually looking at her. Chuck shook his head at his single-minded friend.

Chuck stood back up, the cell phone in hand. "Here we go, good as new!"

The blond smiled warmly. "Thank you. I'm so glad that I finally have it back." With a short wave, the blond turned and left.

Chuck turned around to Casey. "What's with you?"

Casey leaned forward, grabbing Chuck's shirt and dragging him closer. "That was Shelby" he hissed.

Chuck felt his gut turn. "H-How do you know?"

"Her left eye never moved."

Chuck blinked. "Um...how does that make her--"

"Shelby has no left eye. It got cut out in a knife fight."

Chuck squirmed. "How do you know that?"

Casey didn't answer. Chuck made up his own.

"Uh...you two..." Chuck and Casey both looked at Morgan, who looked royally uncomfortable. He scratched the side of his head. "I know you two are all lovey-dovey and stuff--"

Morgan saw the patented death glare, and shut up. He got that several times a day, and yet it still scared him.

(--)

The blond tapped in the number of her boss onto her cell phone and sent the call. It rung once...twice...thrice...

"_Yo._"

"Greg" she said, getting into her car.

"_Hey Shelbs, what's up?_"

"He's gaurded."

There was a pause.

"How_ guarded?_"

Shelby opened a hand-held mirror. She focused it on the disgusting fast-food restaurant behind her. In the mirror, there was a pretty blond lady in a German barmaid's dress that should've stayed in the German bar. "Two as far as I can tell."

"_Anyone you recognize?_"

"Duh. How else can I know that there are two of them?" Shelby put on som coral lipstick.

"_Anyone that can recognize you?_"

Shelby hesitated. She smacked her lips together. "I think one already did."

"_Shelby..._"

"What? I don't have the materials I used to have while in the CIA!" Shelby started her car. "You wanna shell out a million dollars a year to keep up my disguise needs?"

There was a sigh from Greg's side. "_How're we gonna get the kid, then?_"

Shelby smiled. She pulled out of her parking spot. "That's your department, my dear. _You_ can deal with that." Shelby hung up her phone and put it back in her purse. She didn't need to break it again.

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_Please, drop off some praise, constructive criticism, anything you think is helpful!_


	2. Chapter 2

Morgan burst through the Morgan Door. "Chuck" he shouted. "Let's go pick up chicks...and dudes...!"

Chuck rolled over to the window. "What?"

Morgan rolled over the windowsill and onto the floor. Chuck rolled out of the way before his slightly more uncoordinated buddy hit him. Morgan popped up quickly, holding his hands above his head. "There's a new club opening downtown and everyone under the age of thirty gets in at a discount! For girls, it's free, and guys get in for ten dollars!" Morgan lifted five fingers and pointed to that hand.

Chuck thought for a moment. "I don't know..."

Morgan deflated a little. "Whaaaaaaat? Why not?"

Chuck shrugged. "Well, I don't think Casey--"

"Screw Casey for tonight!" Morgan paused, then retraced his verbal steps. "Actually, no. What I meant was...why should he care?"

Chuck shrugged. "He's protective of me, I guess."

Morgan rolled his eyes and then sighed. He walked up to his friend and sat a hand on his shoulder. "Charles, Charles, Charles...this relationship...the one between you and Mr. Scarypants...it's not working out with _us_, y'know? I mean, at least when you were with Sarah, she let your leash be long enough to hang out with your best friend on occasion. You need to tell your man that you need a little breathing room, or you're going to be giving him a lot of breathing room. Capice?"

Chuck looked up at Morgan. Then he looked down at the floor. What Morgan had said about Sarah being really loose with Chuck was because they never really _had_ a relationship. And that was because she was supposed to be nothing more than a guardian for Chuck. They weren't supposed to get intimate, which they didn't, and they weren't supposed to go beyond a working relationship. And Sarah had been very good at keeping feelings seperated from work.

Chuck looked up at the beaming Morgan. He wanted to tell Morgan everything, but he was sure that both Casey and Sarah would have his head for being so...trusting of his best friend.

"Hey Morgan..."

"Yeah, old buddy?" Morgan asked. He had moved on from in front of Chuck to a nearby shelf that held a variety of sci-fi action figures. Morgan "oooh"ed at a ten-inch-tall version of the latest version of the Master.

Chuck hesitated. Maybe...maybe it wasn't a good idea to tell Morgan. After all, it would be better off if he knew less. Because if he knew less, the less likely it would be that he would get hurt.

"I--"

At that moment, Chuck's cell phone rang. Morgan looked at Chuck as the Nerd Hearder answered the Motorola phone. "Hello?"

"_Don't tell him._"

"Casey?" Chuck asked, a little shocked. How did Casey know when to call him and stop him?

"_I have cameras in your room, stupid._"

Chuck remembered. "Oh...yeah."

"_Don't tell him and you are not going to that club tonight._"

"Why not?"

"_Because I said so._"

"You sound like my mom."

"_With all the babysitting I do for you..._"

"Last I checked, you enjoyed being with me. Remember last Monday when you sneaked into my room and--"

"_That's different!_" Casey cut Chuck off.

Chuck looked up. Morgan was looking very uncomfortable. "How?"

Casey didn't answer immediately. "_That's not really babysitting._"

"And stop using that word!" Chuck exclaimed. "I'm a grown man!"

"_Chuck..._"

"What?"

There was a sigh. "_There's a high security risk. Shelby has been spotted, and we don't know what she wants. Even Sarah's and my bosses don't know about Shelby at this point._"

"Why?"

"_Because they think that Shelby is ice-cold and being eaten by worms._"

Chuck's mouth flattened. That was a disgusting visual. In his apartment, staring at his monitors, Casey noticed how cute that made Chuck look. Chuck took a breath, then continued. "Come with us, then. You need to loosen up."

"_No I don't. And I'm not coming._"

"Okay then...I'll take Sarah."

"_No._" The finality of that "no" made Chuck bristle.

"Casey, I never get to spend time with my friends anymore. Who would it kill if I went out?"

Casey wanted to tell his charge that it could possibly kill him and if that happened then Casey wasn't sure what he'd do. But that would be showing an unneeded amount of vulnerability and affection. It didn't matter that Chuck was Casey's lover, he still needed to keep a cool, if not cold, and manly facade.

"_No means no, Chuck. That's final._"

Chuck stood up, quite visibly angry. "That's not fair Casey! This is my life and if I want to hang out with my friends for once instead of listen to _you_, then I can hang out with my friends!" Chuck closed his cell phone and threw it onto his bed. Chuck sat back down in his computer chair and ran his fingers through his hair.

Morgan stared at his best friend. He had never seen Chuck get so angry like that. He wondered what Casey had said that angered Chuck so much. From that last outburst, Morgan guessed that Casey had forbidden Chuck to go to the club. Suddenly, Chuck shifted in his chair. The curly-haired one stood up and looked at his friend. Morgan wondered what Chuck was going to say.

"What time do you want to go?"

(--)

Greg took the headphones off of his head. "They're going to a club tonight."

Shelby threw a dart at a nearby dart board. It had a picture of Major John Casey on it. She caught his ear. Behind her, Shelby could hear Greg say, "Ooh...so close."

Shelby looked at him. "What's the name?"

Greg shrugged. "They didn't say."

Turning from Greg, Shelby picked up another dart. Instead of throwing it, though, she played with its tip. "Well, I guess it's a good thing L.A. doesn't have all that many clubs then. We could go and find them in a matter of minutes."

Greg flipped her the finger. "It's a brand-new club. Tonight's its opening night."

Shelby threw the dart at the picture again. "Now _that_ is something we can work with. Do a search on brand-new clubs in the L.A. area."

"Don't need to." Greg folded a piece of paper into an airplane and then flew it over to his partner. Shelby caught the airplane and, in a swift movement, opened it. On the front was an add for Club Heart-Throbs, stationed off of Santa Monica Boulevard. All women under thirty come in for free.

"Too bad you're too old to get a discount" Greg joked. Shelby threw a dart at his head, but purposefully missed. Greg laughed.

"Make-up can do wonders, you know." Shelby threw another dart. This one hit John Casey right between his eyes. Shelby smiled.

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_You know what'll keep the chapter coming? Reviews. C.C. is love!_


	3. Chapter 3

Greg stepped out from behind the curtain he had changed behind. "Tah-dah! How do I look?"

Shelby looked up and down her comrade's body. He was dressed in a white button-down that was half-open, revealing a clean shaven chest, black tight jeans, a black blazer, dark grey fedora, and black Convers high tops. She looked back to her mirror, checking her blond wig. "You look like a fag."

"Aren't I supposed to look like a fag?"

Shelby thought on it for a moment. "Good point." She picked out two sticks of lipstick and held them up. "Which one?"

"What are you going to be? Slutty club goer or wallflower?"

"Wallflower" she responded. "Need to look as bland as possible."

"Pale pink, then. And maybe change your hair to brown, so that you look even less attractive."

Shelby glared at him. "I need to look bland, not unattractive."

"Bland _is_ unattractive, deary."

"Now you're sounding like a fag."

"Getting into the role!" Greg clapped his hands. "Chop chop, we have a mission to fulfill!"

Morgan was almost jumping out of his skin with excitement. Chuck was slowly shuffling away from him. Maybe he should have kept Morgan away from the Red Bulls and Skittles he had bought earlier.

"Are you excited about this, Chuck? I know I am! I can't remember the last time I was in a club! I remember the last time I _tried_ to get into a club. The bouncer was all, 'Nuh-uh' and I was all 'Why not' and he was all 'You're not cool enough' and I was all 'Oh, yes I am' and then the bouncer picked me up by my collar and tossed me on my ass...not my proudest moment, I have to say..."

Chuck looked away, zoning out on his hyped-up friend's spiel. His moved up the street. Then they moved down the street. Then they moved up the street. Then they moved... Wait a moment...was that...IT WAS!

Chuck felt something like nausea but was closer to embarrassment as he realized the black spy van, the one he, Sarah and Casey used on stake-outs, was sitting a little further up the street. And he was pretty damn sure that if he looked into the van window, if that was possible, he would find Casey sitting there, binoculars up to his face, too proud to say he had done something wrong and too jealous to allow Chuck to go to a club where there would be girls and--God forbid--other men hitting on him.

Sarah flipped through her magazine. Normally she wouldn't be so relaxed on a stake out, but this "stake out" was nothing more than a jealous lover's attempt at controlling his significant other's every move.

"You know, it would just be easier to apologize" she said, tossing the _Us Weekly_ over her shoulder like the trash it was.

Casey didn't answer.

Sarah stared at him. "What are you so worried about? That's way too public a place to kidnap a person and he's not going to go cheat on you because of a stupid fight. Chuck knows you are insanely over-protective, he's had to put up with it for...what...six months now? One little fight is not going to send him into another man's arms."

Casey was quiet. After a few moments, he sighed and pulled the binoculars away from his face, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "This has nothing to do with my relationship with Chuck."

"Then why are we in the van rather than in the club with him?"

Casey got quiet again.

Sarah smiled.

Casey growled.

"What?"

"Some guy is hanging all over him."

It was unexpected, but not necessarily unwanted, when the blond dude threw his arms around Chuck's and Morgan's shoulders. "Well, well, who do we have here?"

Morgan, hampered by the taller man's weight, stopped jumping. Instead, he shook like a crazed chihuahua. "Who are you?"

"Name's Steve, little man." Steve looked at Chuck. He smiled and raised his eyebrows. "What's yours?" Chuck stared. Was he flirting with him?

"I'm Morgan" Morgan interrupted, "and that's Chuck!"

"Chuck?" Steve's smile widened. "How much wood could a wood chuck chuck?"

What the hell?

The line moved and the three men were at the front of the line. Before them stood the illegitemate child of Arnold Schwarzenagger and the She-Hulk. Except a little less green. And with fewer brains.

"Can we enter?" Morgan asked, pointing to the door.

"No."

"Why not?" Chuck asked, feeling very small. Steve had let go of him right after they had gone up there and was now digging through his pockets.

"No."

Chuck and Morgan glanced at each other.

Steve fished out two bills. The bouncer took them and, with his tiny little brain, counted the two one hundred dollar bills that were being offered in return for entrance. The bouncer stuffed the bills in his back pocket and moved out of the way. Steve threw his arms around his new friends' shoulders and walked them past the man-beast that had been blocking the door only moments prior.

"They are in the club" Casey said angrily.

Sarah rolled her eyes. She stood up and opened the door. Casey turned around to look at her. "Where are you going?"

"In the club, because you"--Sarah pointed at Casey for emphasis--"are a big baby."

"What?!"

But Sarah had already closed the door.

Morgan had run off into the crowd some time ago, leaving Chuck with the admittedly creepy Steve. Though, he was still a little cool. He was funny, especially when he pointed out people in the crowd and analyzed them before moving onto the game of "Spot the Virgin." Since it would have been completely rude for Chuck to go up and ask if the people pointed out were really virgins or not, he could only assume that Steve was right.

"So..." Steve said, looking at Chuck. "Lemme see if I can figure you out, Chucky-poo."

Chuck swirled his Coke around. "Wh-What do you mean?"

Steve smiled. "I _mean_ whether or not you are a virgin. That blush isn't helping you, you know."

Chuck looked away. "Well, uh, that's sort of a personal thing, you know?"

"I know" Steve said, placing a hand on Chuck's shoulder. It was both friendly and intimidating. "C'mon, it's just a game. Nothing but a bit of fun between friends, right?"

But Steve wasn't his friend. Steve was some random guy that stepped up to him in the line outside of the club. Steve was some creepy dude and Chuck wanted Casey near him so that he could scare Steve off.

Wait...no! Chuck was a man. He didn't need Casey to frighten off the people he wasn't interested in! He could tell them himself.

Chuck picked up Steve's hand and took it off his shoulder. "No, really, I don't like this game anymore."

Steve sighed and shrugged. He leaned against the bar and sipped from his glass of vodka and Sprite. "Yeah. It was getting a little boring."

Chuck cheered from the deepest part of his soul. He leaned against the bar next to Steve and sipped from his Coke.

"No."

"What?" Sarah asked, honestly shocked. "What do you mean 'no'?"

"No."

Sarah narrowed her eyes. This neanderthal...she wanted to kick his ass into next week. She probably could, if she was going to be honest with herself.

"Walker!"

Sarah turned. Casey was pushing people to catch up with her, growling at whoever didn't move. When Casey caught up, he stared at the giant-orc-goblin mutt that stood in front of them. He looked at Sarah. "What's going on?"

"He won't let me in!"

Casey stared at the idiot in front of him. "Hey." The bouncer stared at Casey. "We need to get in now."

"No."

"Why not?"

"No."

Casey gave the man his best death glare. If it had any effect it was well hidden. "Is that all you can say?"

"No."

With a speed too fast for orc-man's tiny brain, Casey knocked the bouncer unconscious with a kick to the groin, a punch to the temple, and a kick to the side that knocked him over. For good measure.

As the people behind them stared in awe, Casey and Sarah walked into the club.

Shelby stood in the back corner of the room, on a platform so that she could get a good enough look at the room. It was by chance that her eye was at the exact place that Casey and Sarah were in as they entered the crowded club. A jump in her gut immediately followed the sight of Major John Casey, but Shelby didn't move. She knew she had to stay right where she was, near the men's bathroom.

"Oh no" Chuck moaned softly.

"What?" Steve asked.

"My b--...my friend is here and I don't want to bother with him right now." Chuck answered.

Steve looked into the crowd. "Which one is he?"

"Short brown hair, looks angry."

"The one in the black shirt?"

"Yep."

"Hmm...well, the best way to shake off someone you don't want to talk to is to act like you're busy." Steve placed a hand on Chuck's neck. His hand slowly ran up to cup Chuck's skull.

"Uh...I...I don't...uh..."

"Just keep an eye on him, tell me when he's looking over here."

"You don't have to do this."

"Just tell me when he sees us."

"...I think...Yeah! He se--" Steve's lips cut Chuck off, the hand on the back of Chuck's neck keeping him rooted to the spot. Out of the corner of his eye, Steve looked for Casey. He saw him and felt a great amount of satisfaction when he noticed that the other man was stock-still, eyes wide and staring at his lover as he kissed another man. Another younger, more attractive man if Greg could say so for himself.

Greg pulled away from Chuck. "C'mon, let's move so that he really knows we mean business." Greg placed an arm around Chuck's--who was stunned--shoulders and guided him away, towards the bathroom.

Sarah looked around the room. She couldn't find Chuck yet. Maybe he was at the bar or--

"Hey Sarah!"

Sarah looked. "Oh...hi Morgan."

Morgan practically jumped up to Sarah. "What're you doing here?"

"I dragged Casey down so that he could apologize to Chuck after their fight earlier."

"They had a fight?"

"Yeah. Casey said that he didn't want Chuck coming here so he told him that, but Chuck was going to be stubborn and come anyway." Sarah placed her hands on either side of Morgan, keeping him down. "I told him he was being a baby and drove him down here so that he could apologize."

"Last I saw Chuck, he was at the bar with Steve."

"Who's Steve?"

"Some guy we met outside. He seemed to take a liking to Chuck, though."

Sarah remembered Casey getting angry over a guy hanging on Chuck when they were still outside. Steve might be that guy. "Do you think you can walk me to the bar?"

"Sure, it's over-- Hey, there's Casey!"

Sarah turned and looked. Casey was making a beeline for the door, looking angrier than he normally did. Sarah grabbed Morgan's hand and walked through the crowd as fast as she could. She didn't catch up to her partner until the three of them were completely outside. "Casey!" she cried out. "Casey, what's wrong?"

Casey stopped. He turned on his heel and pointed at the building. "Chuck...is being an idiot." Casey turned around again and walked off. Sarah groaned and chased after him, letting go of Morgan's hand as she did.

Greg had his arms around Chuck as Shelby forced the chloroform-soaked rag into Chuck's nose. Chuck was struggling, kicking and moving and trying to use his arms that were held under Greg's arms. What really worried them, though, was the noise he was making. If he was loud enough, then he would attract unwanted attention.

Soon enough, though, the chloroform began to kick in and Chuck's body went limp.

"That took a bit more effort than I thought" Greg noted.

"Shut up, we still need to get him out of here" Shelby said, gesturing to the open window.

"How're we gonna get him through there?"

Again, Shelby said, "Shut up."


	4. Chapter 4

It wasn't often that Casey drunk himself to sleep. It wasn't often that Casey drunk at all. Only in the most emotional of times when he needed something to blame if he ever cried.

But in those two or three nights--not including last night--in which Casey opted out for booze instead of facing unfortunate facts, he learned something. He does not like being woken up. And those few people who survived after waking him after a night of binge drinking learned in bad ways he does not like to be woken up.

"Casey!"

Oh...how Casey hated Grimes right now. He groaned, pressing the heels of his hands to his throbbing eyes.

"Casey!"

Did he have to knock while screaming?

"Casey!"

Casey got up, staggering over to the door and cracking it open. "What?"

Morgan was wide-eyed and hyper. More than he normally was. "Casey!" he cried again. "Chuck--"

Casey slammed the door, wincing at the pain it caused his ears. He didn't want to hear a single word about that stupid, lying, nerdy, gullible, disobediant...WHORE! Morgan went back to pounding on the door, calling out Casey's name again. "Case--"

Casey opened the door again. "I don't want to hear about your little friend for the rest of my--"

"Chuck's gone!"

Something in Casey's chest sank. "What?"

"Chuck he's...gone. Poof. Disappeared!" Morgan pointed to Ellie's apartment. "Ellie says he didn't come home last night, he's not at the Buy More or anywhere else he normally hangs out, Sarah hasn't seen him since before the club last night, and he won't answer his phone!"

Two words appeared in Casey's mind: Shelby Harolds.

Shelby stared at Chuck as his eyes slowly opened. He groaned softly and Shelby's demented grin grew into something resembling a child's innocently happy one.

"Wakey wakey Mr. Bartowski" Shelby said softly. One hand daintily stroaked Chuck's cheek. Chuck leaned into the hand. Shelby curled her fingers and used her long nails--sharpened just that morning for just this purpose--to claw into Chuck's face. Chuck's eyes snapped open and he cried out, twisting to get away from the nails. Shelby's smiled morphed into a pleased one, then pulled back. Small trails of blood dripped down the side of his face, getting into his ear and hair.

"Did that hurt?"

Chuck looked around him. The room he was in had one door, a two-way mirror, lots of white, and an adjustable board that he was currently strapped to. He was lying on his back, approximately at a seventy degree angle. Chuck then looked back to the woman beside him. She was a little short, no curves, long black hair, and an eyepatch over her left eye.

Chuck whimpered when he realized who this was.

"Don't worry, that's probably the best treatment you're going to get while you're here. Especially after your friend gets here."

"Friend?"

Shelby leaned on the table. She tapped the end of Chuck's nose with the tip of her finger, a tap matching each word. "Major John Casey." Shelby walked away, over to the two-way mirror.

"What do you mean by that?" Chuck asked.

"I'm not sure if you're aware, but the man you've been fucking is an NSA agent. One the the agency's top mercenaries, in fact." Shelby ran her fingers across the window. "And that blond female friend of yours is an agent from the CIA." Shelby caught Chuck's face in the mirror. He was mostly terrified, with just a hint of confusion. Perfect. She continued. "I don't know what the hell they're doing here, and frankly, I don't give a damn. I just want to make Casey suffer."

"Then why take me?" Chuck asked. "Couldn't you have taken him?"

Shelby's smile, which had stayed strong for the entire conversation, fell quickly and almost violently. "He's going to face his own special kind of torture soon enough, don't you worry Mr. Bartowski."

Sarah's panic was satisfyingly more present than Casey's had been, in Morgan's mind.

"What the hell are we going to do?" Sarah asked. It sounded general, but Morgan knew it was only for Casey.

"Go to the police?" Casey suggested calmly.

Sarah opened her mouth, looking ready to say something, then seemed to notice Morgan. She closed her mouth. "Yeah...police...not like we can really do anything, can we?" Sarah looked pointedly at Casey, who nodded slightly, so slightly that, if Morgan hadn't been looking in the right place, he would have missed it.

Morgan looked out the window. His eyes widened when he saw someone familiar approach the Weinerlicious.

"Uh...guys..." Morgan said, trying to get someone's attention. He was ignored. The other two seemed caught up in their conversation.

"Right... But I bet that Chuck's just with some old friends" Casey said.

"Guys..." The guy outside was getting closer.

"Then we just have to find them" Sarah agreed.

"Casey...Sarah..." Still he was ignored.

"Exactly" Casey said.

"Look! Steve, from the club!" Morgan pointed to the door, which was now opening.

Steve stopped in the doorway, one hand holding an open bookbag while the other dug around inside of it, staring at the three people staring at him, two of which looked like they wanted to rip him to shreds. He pulled what looked like a paper ball out and threw it.

The ball hit the floor, someone shouted shit, a big pink cloud erupted from the ball, and then Morgan fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chuck awoke to Steve staring him down, smiling like a happy little boy. "Hey there, handsome."

Chuck tried to move, then remembered the restraints, and fell still.

"Well, aren't you a little ball of energy?"

"What are you doing here?" Chuck asked, failing at trying not to sound scared.

Greg poked Chuck's forehead. "I'm waiting for Shelby to give orders."

"Orders for what?"

"My name is Greg, by the way."

"O...Okay...what does that have to do with anything?"

"I like certain people to know my name."

"And I'm one of those people?"

"Right on." Chuck groaned. "Hey, it's not all bad. Sometimes I sleep with the people who know my name."

Chuck's eyes went dish-wide. "Huh?"

Greg laughed. "Ha ha...you should see the look on your face!" Greg sat on the floor next to Chuck's table. "Though, it is a little insulting. I've been given good reviews by those who have been given a taste of what I can do in the sack." Greg wiggled his eyebrows.

Chuck smiled. "Who would want to sleep with you?"

"Why would you want to sleep with Casey? From what I've heard, he ain't too nice a guy."

"You have to get to know him to understand."

"You know Chuck, you're a cool guy." Greg tugged on one of his shirt sleeves. "And I am honestly sorry for whatever the hell I'm gonna be doing to you today."

Chuck felt something press against his chest. "What would that be?"

Greg looked at the two-way mirror. "Shelby said that today would be a soft day, so along the lines of the scratch she gave you yesterday." There was a pause. "At the very least."

"At the very wrost?"

Greg patted the pocket that held the cigarettes Shelby had given him earlier. "You don't want to know."

Morgan woke up. The first thing he saw was the ceiling--dark gray and none-too inviting--followed shortly by Sarah sitting on a bench. Her arms were crossed over her torso and her expression was quite unhappy. Morgan looked around, seeing also that there were bars and that Casey was sitting in a cell across a three-foot-wide hall. "Where are we?" Morgan asked.

"Shut up" Casey snapped.

"We're in a cell" Sarah answered.

"Where, though?"

"Shut up."

"We don't know."

Morgan turned to Casey. "Could you stop saying--"

"Shut up!" Casey uncharacteristically yelled.

This time, Morgan obeyed.

The three prisoners fell silent. A long time passed before there was any noise, which happened to be the door opening. Morgan, Sarah, and Casey all turned towards the the hallway. A shadow loomed closer, its only sound being the click of heels on the cement ground. The owner, a very pretty woman with one eye missing, strutted down the hall. She stopped and turned towards Casey, hands planted confidently on her hips.

"Hello Major Casey" she greeted.

"Shelby" Casey hissed. "What the hell do you want?"

"Who's that?" Morgan asked.

"Shut up, Grimes" Casey said, eyes not leaving Shelby's face.

"I figured you'd get it once you found out that your precious Chucky-poo had gone missing" Shelby said. She gripped the bars. "I. Want. Revenge."

"What happened?" Morgan asked.

"Shut up" Casey repeated. "Fine, you can have revenge, just leave Chuck out of it!"

"Sorry, Chuck is the leading man in my plot for revenge" Shelby said. A smile spread across her face. "You know, Casey, I've been planning this for almost a decade. I've been doing nothing but waiting and watching, hoping that, one day, you'd meet someone and they'd be stupid enough to get themselves kidnapped. Boy, did you choose a winner."

"What's going on?" Morgan whined.

Shelby spun around. "You speak one more time, I'll rip your scrotum off and shove it down your throat, you pest."

Morgan shut up.

Sarah decided to speak, since she didn't have a scrotum. "This isn't right, Shelby."

"Why do you care?" Shelby walked up to the cage that Sarah and Morgan were in. "Don't think I remember all those times when we were training where you and your girlfriend would screw up my performace reviews, tests, missions. I was almost let go because of you."

Sarah glanced away guiltily. When she returned her gaze to Shelby, her back was already turned.

"I'll be taking you to Chuck now, Casey" Shelby said.

Casey nodded. "Fine."

Morgan and Sarah watched in fear and worry as Shelby unlocked the cell door and allowed Casey out. She took his wrists and pinned them behind him. Shelby walked Casey out of the hall.

"What's she gonna do?" Morgan asked softly.

Sarah didn't answer.

"I...I don't like that I have to wear a blindfold" Chuck said as he heard Greg prepare next to him.

"Relax, it's better this way" he insisted. He took out some ciggarettes and light them, placing them on a nearby table.

"What does that mean?" Chuck asked.

"Well, you can't see what I'm doing, can ya?"

"Is it that bad?" Chuck asked, voice shaking.

Greg thought a moment. "Since you're on the receiving end, I'm gonna guess so."

Shelby tied Casey's wrists to a chair. She stepped back and surveyed him.

Casey was sitting still, stoicism taking control and making him stare emotionlessly through the two-way mirror, beyond which Chuck, blindfolded, was tied down to an adjustable table. The other man in the room--the one that had been hanging all over Chuck, had kissed Chuck, had helped abduct Chuck--was setting up a table that had probably been stolen from a hospital. He had a head set on.

Shelby leaned against the back of Casey's chair. "He's not all that good looking, you know? Then again, I had a man like Sam." Shelby leaned in close. "You remember Sam, don't you?" Shelby made a gun with her fingers and pressed it against Casey's temple. "You should. I remember you saying he was too damn hard to kill." Shelby backed up. "It hurts to see a loved one die so quickly you can't say good-bye. Though, I bet it hurts more to see them wither away and break right in front of your eyes while you can't do anything."

Casey said and did nothing.

"Well Chuck" Greg said after a long silence, "I just got my orders to start."

"Start whaaaaaaah!" Chuck shouted just as Greg began to cut into his abdomen. The knife ran in a straight, shallow line down Chuck's naked front, from the dip in his collarbone down to his belly button. Chuck tried to shake the knife off of him, but Greg had been so quick with it that all Chuck did was shake more blood out of himself.

"I would stop moving if I were you" Greg advised.

Chuck stopped. He whimpered.

"Aww...that was cute. Can you do it again?" Greg asked.

Chuck didn't do anything.

Greg used the knife to tear Chuck's shirt sleeves up. "Let's work on your arms, shall we?" Again, Greg pressed the blade of the knife into Chuck's skin, hard enough to draw blood but not hard enough that the kid would bleed to death, a tricky trick to do on someone's arms, but something Greg has mastered in his years of torturing small animals and, later in life, "harsh interrogation".

Chuck squirmed again, trying to pull away. More blood poured out of his abdomen as well as his right arm, which was the arm Greg was working on. Once there was a straight slash down Chuck's arm, starting from his shoulder and ending right above his wrist, Greg moved onto the other arm, where he did the same thing.

"You know, struggling does nothing but speed up the bleeding. I'm pretty sure you don't want to bleed to death. Takes too long to be at all pleasant" Greg said once he was done with the left arm.

Chuck whimpered again.

"Ha!" Greg said, excited. "I knew I could make you do that again!"

Shelby glanced at Casey. He was still silent, hard, and staring. Shelby pouted. She pressed a button on her headset. "Move on."

Greg picked up a wooden baseball bat. He twirled it around in his hands, threw it up in the air, and then caught it.

"_Stop playing and do your job!_"

Greg gave the mirror the finger. He adjusted the baseball bat in his hands. He raised the bat above his head and swung it down, hard, on Chuck's left shin.

Chuck's body lurched off the table, a pained scream echoing throughout the small room.

Greg waited until after Chuck was done screaming. Greg had had some restraints about having to tear apart such an innocent young man, even after she spilled her sob story, but he had quickly gotten over his qualms and pursued this new job with fervor. Now, though, those qualms began to resurface. The poor kid was crying, probably not even realizing it, and was so not used to having this much pain at once.

Still, Shelby was bat-shit crazy and there was no way in Hell that Greg was going to go against her orders. So he rounded the table, lifted the bat again, and struck Chuck's right shin. After a few more moments, Greg beat Chuck in the abdomen, right where the slash on his body was.

Shelby was starting to get annoyed with Casey. He wasn't doing anything. He was just sitting, staring, taking in the fact that his lover was being tortured and beaten. Shelby wondered if the man even cared about the kid. Wouldn't surprise her if he didn't. He didn't care when she begged him not to kill her husband, why should he care about the kid he had probably used purely for his own fulfillment.

After the third time Greg hit Chuck in the stomach, Shelby pressed the button on her headset.

"Move along."

Greg threw the bat onto the ground. That Casey guy must not be very responsive. Then again, he was a special agent, he was supposed to be cold and unresponsive.

Greg reached for one of the ciggarettes, which were burnt down to little stubs by now. He rolled one of these stubs between his fingers before leaning forward and placing the burning end against the chest of his victim. Chuck cried out again, wriggling around so that he could get away from the pain, making him bleed even more. Greg dug it into his skin, making Chuck whimper and make strangled noises.

When that particualr ciggarette was done with, Greg flicked it away and moved onto the next one.

Shelby was about ready to strangle that damned John Casey. He wasn't doing anything. If she couldn't tell what he was feeling, then things wouldn't go smoothly. For all she could tell, he didn't care.

Shelby pressed the button on her headset. "I'm coming in. Move it."

Greg looked at Shelby, stopping himself from digging the third ciggarette into Chuck's skin. He shrugged, dropped the torture device, and then walked calmly towards the door. He held the door open for Shelby, who passed by him without a word of thanks. Greg closed the door and stood next to Casey.

Shelby stood by Chuck's side, arms crossed over her abdomen. She stared at him for a moment longer, then bent down by his ear and spoke to him, finding a way to block her mouth.

"What's she saying?"

Greg turned to the man strapped to the chair. He had no emotion, and his voice was even, but he was probably only able to pull himself together after a small hint of fear that Greg missed. Something Shleby had most likely missed as well.

Shelby pulled away, turned around, and walked back to the room Casey was still tied up in. She walked over to her captive. "I hope you enjoyed your time with Chuck," she said as she untied Casey's restraints, "because it might be the last time you see him for a while."


	6. Chapter 6

"Casey!" Sarah shouted as she saw her partner get walked back down the cell block and into his cell. Shelby closed it with a resounding slam before turning around sharply and walking out the door.

"Casey!" Sarah walked up to the bars of her cell and grasped them. "Casey, what happened?"

Casey sat down in a corner of the cell.

"Casey!"

"Shut up!" Casey shouted.

Sarah didn't shut up, though. "What happened? Where's Chuck? Why didn't you do anything?"

"Shut up!"

"No! What happened!"

"They're hurting him!" Casey said, not looking at the others across the hall. "They have him strapped to a table and they're hurting him, alright?!" Casey crossed his arms and looked away. "And I couldn't do anything."

Sarah stared at him before moving away and sitting next to Morgan on the bench.

"What're we gonna do later, Missy Miss?" Greg asked.

"What?"

"What are we going to do?" Greg asked. "To the kid?"

"What do you think will really get Casey?" Shelby asked.

"I dunno the guy" Greg said. "Howabout...we...make him listen to Chuck's screams?"

"No, that's not good enough" Shelby said. She pointed at Greg. "Good idea, though. Maybe we should play them on loop tonight?"

"Oooh...you are twisted" Greg said.

"Thank you" Shelby said. She tapped her face. "Hey, I think I have an idea."

"Spill" Greg said.

"What's more heartbreaking than seeing your lover having sex with another person?" Shelby asked.

"Uh...getting stabbed in the chest" Greg said. Shelby turned and looked at him. "Breaks your heart. Makes it not work." Greg smiled broadly.

Shelby stared for a moment longer before turning away. "I was thinking more watching your lover getting raped."

"You're gonna rape Chuck?" Greg asked. He tried to get a look at Shelby's crotch, wondering if she was part man.

"No, you are, stupid."

"Uh, no" Greg said. "I don't do rape."

"You just bisected the kid" Shelby said.

"But sex is...well...sex" Greg said. "That's...that's different. I can't put sex and my job together, cause that's just wrong!"

"The hell are you talking about?" Shleby asked.

"I love sex, and I don't want to mix the things I love with work" Greg said. "Unless I'm a pimp."

"You're doing what I say" Shelby said.

"No, I won't" Greg said. "I'll listen to your suggestions and do whatever I want."

"No, you will listen to me." Shelby stood up.

"And if I don't?" Greg asked, eyes roaming the woman in front of him.

Shelby picked up the knife from earlier, still stained with Chuck's blood. She pressed the flat of the blade against Greg's throat. "Then I will make sure you will never do anything you enjoy ever again.

Greg glanced at the knife, then up at Shelby. There was something deep inside Greg that made him believe that she would do that.

"We should escape!" Morgan said randomly, and with vigor.

"How?" Sarah asked.

"Well...we could...uh...er...ask nicely when that lady comes back" Morgan said. "You know, the pirate."

Sarah rolled her eyes. She wondered how Chuck could be friends with this moron, sometimes. "That's not going to work. Shelby is not the nicest person in the world. She's not going to do something just because someone asks her to. In fact, that's the best way to not get something done."

"What was she talking about earlier" Morgan said, jumping to another topic. "Something about how you and her were in training and stuff. What was that about? What training?"

Sarah hesitated, wondering whether or not Morgan would believe the truth. Then she realized it was Morgan, and he believed that he was attractive. "Well...I'm in the C--"

"Don't say it!" Casey interjected.

"I'm a spy for the CIA" Sarah said. "Casey works for the NSA."

Morgan stared at Sarah. The information clicked in Morgan's brain and his mouth fell open. "No way... That's so cool! I'm friends with spies!"

"Shut up" Casey said.

"Yeah, but you _can not _tell anyone, understand?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, totally. I'm good with keeping secrets."

"How did Sarah find out about Chuck and I, then?" Casey asked.

Morgan closed his mouth for a moment. Then he spoke again. "Does Chuck know? I mean, he should know, since he's, you know, getting boned by a spy."

Casey shot Morgan a dangerous look. Morgan was far too used to them for this little one to have much effect.

"Well, you see," Sarah said. "Casey and I met Chuck because a former CIA agent and friend of Chuck's, Bryce Larkin--"

"That ass was in the CIA?" Morgan asked, shocked. "But that's only for cool people, like you."

"Thank you" Sarah said with a small smile. "Anyway, Bryce sent Chuck, pretty much, all the secrets that the CIA and NSA had."

"Walker!" Casey shouted.

"I was sent to get his computer, but by the time it was destroyed, Chuck had already seen the secrets--"

"Shut up!"

"And now they are all in his head. So now Casey and I have to protect him until we can get the secrets out of his head" Sarah finished, despite Casey's shouting.

Morgan blinked. "Wow..."

"And if you ever tell anyone any of that" Casey added, "I will make sure you are buried alive and surrounded by flesh-eating worms."

"And I'll help him" Sarah said.

Morgan made a small sound that could be interpreted as a frightened squeak.

At that moment, the door to the cellblock opened. Everyone fell silent as someone walked down the hallway. Sarah and Casey could both tell that the rhythm of the steps was different from Shelby's, and they sprung to their feet once they saw Greg, and the set of keys he had in his hands. "No need to be so jumpy."

"What do you want?" Casey growled out.

Greg took a step away from Casey's cell. "Came here to let you all out."

"What?" Sarah asked.

"Shelby pissed me off" Greg said. He held the keys out to Sarah. "So the story is that I accidentally dropped the keys while I was in here, got it?"

Sarah looked at the keys. "How do I know that they're real?"

"C'mon, Sweet Cheeks. They're okay. Just take 'em." Greg jerked his head in the direction of Casey. "He'll know how to get to Chuck, so you all can rescue him."

"Don't call me 'Sweet Cheeks'" Sarah said. She took the offered keys.

Greg nodded. "Right. Well, I'm off. I'd rather live to see my next birthday." Greg turned to Casey. "Nice to see ya again, Major Casey."

"I'm going to kill you" Casey threatened.

"Which is why I'm leaving" Greg said before walking away quickly.

"Oh my God!" Sarah cried out.

"What?" Morgan asked, standing up.

Sarah pushed the cell door open. "They're the real keys!"

Chuck had fallen asleep between the time Shelby had come into the room and by the time he had the blindfold taken off of him. He didn't dream, just floated through the darkness on a rigid board that made his back hurt. When he was asleep, there were no cuts or bruises or burns. He was just there. Floating. Safe.

Something soft was coaxing him awake. Soft, rough fingers were carding through his hair, touching his temples and his forehead. A warm, cold voice was whispering his name, trying to bring Chuck out of his syrupy safety blanket. Chuck opened his eyes, the lights making him close them again.

"Chuck, it's okay" he heard that voice whisper. "You're safe now."

Chuck opened his eyes and managed to keep them open this time. There was a figure looming over him, blocking out a lot of the light. Chuck blinked, and the figured cleared and became Casey.

"Ca--"

"Shh..." Casey said, working Chuck's wrists free. "You need to be quiet."

Chuck nodded, then closed his eyes. Going back to sleep wouldn't be too bad of an idea, now that he thought about it.

Sarah gasped when she saw Chuck, unconscious, bloody and bruised. "What--"

"Where's the exit?" Casey asked. He glanced at Morgan's hands, raising to touch his sleeping friend. "Touch him and I'll rip your hands off."

Morgan looked up. "Why can't I--"

"He's really hurt" Sarah said calmly. "If he gets jostled or anything, he might be hurt even worse."

Morgan's face resembled that of a kicked puppy's, but he still backed off, hand falling miserably to his side.

"Let's move" Casey ordered.

"I wouldn't if I were you" Shelby said, stepping around a corner. She pointed to Casey and Chuck. "Drop the kid."

"Over my dead body" Casey said.

Shelby pulled out a gun. "Fine with me."

"Wait!" Morgan shouted.

Everyone looked at the little, bearded man. A sudden cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He wasn't used to so many people looking at him. Still, he had started something, so he might as well continue with it.

"What'd Casey do?" Morgan asked. "You know, to make you hate him so much."

Shelby's eyes went dark and distant. "It was ten years ago" she said. "I had just gotten married and my husband had just refused orders straight from the president. He asked me to run away from the CIA, so I did. We were planning on settling in London or Paris or Berlin, but the CIA didn't want that. They didn't want to risk me spilling agency secrets, so they tried to get me back. When I didn't and moved, taking all my CIA stuff with me, they sent that bastard after me and my husband."

Sarah noticed the lax way Shelby's hand was hanging by her hip. An idea formed in her mind.

Shelby continued her story: "He caught us as we were just about to leave the country; we were in Hartford then. My husband, Sam, saw Casey first, and told me we had to run. We made it to the parking lot of the airport before Casey caught up to us. Without a word, he shot Sam in the chest, a point-blank shot to his heart. I tried to disarm him with a knife, but he took it out and slashed out my left eye. I was on the floor, bleeding, when Casey pointed the gun at me and shot me in the abdomen."

Yeah, if Sarah could catch Shelby off guard... Yes, she could totally do it!

"Casey left my husband and I to die, but we were lucky enough to have a stranger notice us and call for help. My husband didn't make it. From that day forward, I swore to exact total revenge on Major John--"

Sarah kicked Shelby in the stomach, making the woman fall over and drop her gun. Sarah turned to the others. "Run, now!"

Casey and Morgan didn't need the "now". They were past Sarah before the "n" on the end of "run" was out of her mouth.

Morgan was running faster than Casey, who was also being weighted down by Chuck, so Morgan was, essentially, leading the way. Down the end of the hall, he turned right, and at the end of the next hall, he turned left. He nearly fell on his ass at one point, but soon got back up onto his feet and ran some more. There was a pain in his side and he was running out of breath, but there was a door at the end of this hall and Morgan hoped to God that that door lead to the outside and bright light and Cheetos.

The door flew open at Morgan's hands, revealing the bright, beautiful sunlight of Los Angeles. Morgan stepped outside and threw his arms up. "Oh, thank you God! Thank you God! Thank you, thank you, thank-- Oh, lamp post!" Morgan hugged a nearby lamp post. "I'm so glad to be free of that scary lady!" Morgan pulled out his cell phone.

"You had that with you the entire time?" Casey shouted as he stepped outside. "Why didn't you call someone?"

"Because it didn't work in there." Morgan looked at the phone. "Maybe I should get Verizon or something."

"Call an ambulance!" Casey instructed.

Morgan nodded. "Right! Don't worry, Chuck Man, we're gonna get you some help!"


	7. Chapter 7

"Oh my God!" Ellie said as she freaked out. She turned to Sarah, who was sitting in a chair right next to Chuck's hospital bed. "How...where...what--"

"We don't know" Sarah said. "Casey said his friend might help since she was a private investigator, but instead we found Chuck tied to a bed instead, like this. We were too worried about getting out alive." Sarah took the still-sleeping Chuck's hand into her own. "At least the police have her now. Chuck's safety is all that matters."

"And that he gets better" Casey said calmly, arms folded over his chest.

"Oh" Ellie continued to fret.

Morgan wrapped his arms around her waist. "I know how you feel, my sweet Ellie. I fear for Chuck's fragile life as well." He placed a hand on his chest. "Sometimes, I worried that we would not get to Chuck in time. That maybe, when we did find him, he would have already taken his last breath."

"Get away from me" Ellie said, pushing Morgan off of her.

"Why don't you just leave" Casey added.

"But...but...but Chuck's my friend. I want to make sure he wakes up!" Morgan moaned.

Ellie sighed. "Okay, you can stay. But if you touch me again, then you have to leave."

Morgan gave her a thumbs up. "Alright!"

Ellie looked towards Casey. "Casey, you can go if you want."

"I'm staying" Casey said with his usual, cold finality.

Ellie smiled. "It's nice to know that Chuck has good friends like you guys." She looked at her watch. "I need to go check up on something, but I'll be right back." Ellie left Chuck's room and walked down the hall.

Sarah tapped Morgan's shoulder. "Hey, I need to talk to you for a moment."

"About what?"

Sarah gestured to the door. "Let's go outside." Sarah grabbed Morgan by the arm and guided him out into the hall.

When they were outside, Morgan asked, "What's up?"

"Nothing" Sarah said after she dragged Morgan around a corner. "I just thought that Casey and Chuck should have some alone time."

Casey sat down in the chair Sarah had taken. He ran a hand through Chuck's hair. He remembered the first time he ran his hand through Chuck's hair. It was after their first night together. Chuck had fallen asleep, so Casey knew it was safe to show him some emotion other than lust. Just like back then, Chuck's curls were soft and slipped between Casey's fingers like they were insubstantial, air, nothing.

Casey felt like telling Chuck he was sorry, but what did he have to be sorry for? It was Shelby who kidnapped Chuck, tortured him... Casey did nothing, knew nothing. If he had known about Shelby's plans, Casey was sure that he wouldn't have gotten involved with Chuck. At least he thought so.

Casey's knuckles ran over the claw marks on Chuck's face. Chuck's nose twitched when he did. Casey smiled. Chuck was so cute.

Casey leaned down. He pressed a kiss to Chuck's hair. His lips moved down to the claw marks on Chuck's cheek. Then the younger man's nose, then, finally, his lips. Casey pulled back after a second, his mouth hovering millimeters away from Chuck's. Then Casey descended back onto Chuck's lips, this time making the kiss last a few seconds longer than the last one.

"What the hell?"

Casey froze. He sat up and looked towards Ellie, who was standing in the open doorway, hands plastered to her face.

"Wh-What are you doing to my brother?" Ellie asked.

Sarah rushed up behind Ellie. "What's wrong?"

Morgan was right behind them. "Is the bitch back?"

Ellie pointed at Casey. "He was kissing Chuck!"

"What?" Sarah asked. She marched past Ellie.

Casey stood and reminded himself to comment on Sarah's acting skills later. She could go professional if she wanted. "I can explain," he said.

"You better!" Sarah exclaimed, standing haughtily in front of Casey, arms crossed.

Casey took a dramaticly deep breath. "Chuck and I have been sleeping with each other for the past few months."

Ellie's hands flew to her mouth. Morgan tried, and failed, to act surprised. Sarah gave Casey a wink.

"What?!" Sarah shouted. "I...I can't believe... Wait, no, it makes so much sense now!" Sarah placed her hands against her head. "Chuck wanted to go slow because he didn't want to... Oh, God, I can't believe this happened again!" Sarah placed her hands over her eyes. She turned and ran out of the room, making noises that sounded like crying.

Ellie's head swivveled between Casey and Sarah, who was running down the hall. She was obviously lost on what was happening and what she should do first. Finally, she pointed at Casey. "I'll talk to you later" she said. She didn't sound happy. Casey didn't care. Sarah was out of the picture and Casey could win over the favor of any woman.

Ellie ran after Sarah. Casey took his rightful seat next to Chuck, a victorious smile on his face.

In the door, Morgan stared at the scary spy man, then sighed. He wanted Cheetos.


End file.
